Objective: Chronic ankle pain secondary to osteoarthritis is a very disabling disease that is difficult to treat. Articular ankle replacement surgery is not indicated in initial joint damage or in patients under 40 years of age. We present a case series with a follow-up of up to 12 months of patients with severe ankle osteoarthritis treated with partial radiofrequency (RF) ankle denervation.
Methods: Young patients with chronic ankle pain who had a history of severe disabling ankle osteoarthritis underwent partial radiofrequency (RF) ankle denervation. The ablation lesion was produced at 60°C for 60 seconds under ultrasound in 3 nerves at the ankle level: deep peroneal, sural, and saphenous nerves.
Results: A total of 4 patients with chronic ankle pain underwent RF. The mean age of the patients was 43±10.28 years, of whom 3 were women and 1 man, and the follow-up was up to 12 months. Chronic ankle pain was secondary to ankle fracture in 3 patients (75%), and one case of avascular osteonecrosis of the ankle (25%). Their pain measured by visual analog scale (VAS) was 7.75±0.82 SD before denervation, 3.75±1.92 SD one month after denervation, and 4.75±1.47 SD one year after denervation, respectively. A marked improvement was observed in 3 patients (75%).
Conclusion: Partial RF denervation of the ankle joint could be a minimally invasive option to treat chronic pain when joint replacement surgery is not recommended. This technique offers a rehabilitation-free, minimally invasive, outpatient approach alternative to a surgical approach, but further studies with larger series are needed.
Cárcamo Quezada, C. (2022). Partial ankle denervation for treatment of chronic ankle pain: case series. Boletín De Anestesia, (3), 6–12. Retrieved from https://adnz.uchile.cl/index.php/BA/article/view/68894
